


And I'll Carry Your Name On

by Matterofhope



Category: Metal Gear
Genre: Hal Emmerich - Freeform, M/M, Otacon - Freeform, Otasune, a tad, dave talks about his past, dogs are everywhere, grey fox mention - Freeform, hal rather not, hal sees a small bit of dave's drinking problem, mention of big boss, set a week after shadow moses, slowly learning things about eachother, solid snake - Freeform, talk about names and what they mean, theyre in dave's cabin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-31
Updated: 2020-08-31
Packaged: 2021-03-06 23:28:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,760
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26187226
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Matterofhope/pseuds/Matterofhope
Summary: “But maybe you were born to fight something bigger than yourself.”Dave scoffed. “Like what?”(Or Hal learns a few things about Dave’s past. Maybe he even learns a few things about Dave himself.)
Relationships: Otacon & Solid Snake, Otacon/Solid Snake
Comments: 2
Kudos: 37





	And I'll Carry Your Name On

Just a week ago, Hal was on the back of a snowmobile. 

He still can feel the cold air against his cheeks. The grumble of Dave’s voice when he told Hal he could hold onto him if he needed to. (He did, for safety purposes of course.) Even the rush from the _pure_ speed of the mobile, then they were arriving at Dave’s cabin, hearing the barks of what sounded like dozens of dogs. 

Dave eventually let the dogs inside. They crowded the place. 

Hal looked at each and every one of them. He thought if he had fallen in love with Wolf’s dogs back in Moses, then he could easily see himself falling in love with these huskies. 

One that looked small but agile strutted up to him.

“Her name’s Nikita,” Dave said.

“Ah, after the weapon.” Hal smiled at her.

Another one came to greet him. Hal bent down to pet that one. He was mostly grey, with some white showing through. It was a unique coat, not one else seemed to have similar coloring, the rest of the dogs were all black and white. 

“Who’s this one?” Hal asked.

“That one is named Fox.” 

He looked up at Dave. “Like how a fox can be grey?” 

Dave’s expression changed. Hal was still looking up at him, taking note of the change. 

“If that’s off-limits, I understand.” He said. 

“You know that Cyborg from Shadow Moses? Dave asked.

“Yeah...the one that made me piss myself...” Hal muttered.

“Yeah, him. His code name used to be Grey Fox. He was… We knew each other years ago. He was special to me.”

“I… I,” Hal stammered. “I didn’t know that. I’m sorry.” 

“Don’t be,” Dave assured him. 

“So… that’s why you named this one Fox? Cause of their grey coat?” Hal was petting Fox’s belly. 

Dave nodded. “Yeah. I have to get my names from somewhere, right?” 

“It’s a good name, Dave.” Hal tried to smile. “I’m sure Grey Fox was a good man.”

“He was.” 

  
  


~ 

Hal woke up to the sound of the dogs rustling around, panting and their paws clicking on the hardwood floors. The sun beans from the window blinded him when he first opened his eyes. (As if he wasn't blind already.)

Hal looked around the room, only able to see blurry silhouettes. He rubbed his eyes, reaching his arm out to the side table, feeling for his glasses. He stood as soon as he put them on. The sweatpants he wore dragged against the hardwood floor as he walked. 

When he came out of the bedroom, he saw that the kitchen and living room were  _ filled _ with the huskies, but there was no Dave in sight. Normally he would be up already, moving around in the kitchen, feeding the dogs, making coffee.

“Dave?” Hal called out, a small bit of unease in his chest. One of the dogs barked in response. That wasn’t what he wanted to hear. The unease got worse as the silence continued. One of the huskies walked up to him, brushing up against his legs as if to comfort him. Hal barely noticed, because his mind was already flooding with worst-case scenarios. 

_ ‘Could Dave have gone out? Maybe gotten lost- no he knows his way around, so then what…?’ _

He heard the wooden sound of the front door swinging open and shut. 

Hal turned to the source of the noise. There stood Dave, unharmed, brushing snow off of himself. 

Hal took a breath of relief and tried to calm himself down. “Where were you?” 

“I took a walk,” Dave casually slipped off his jacket and hung it up on the rack. 

“You...you took a walk?” 

“Yeah.” Dave responded, crouching down to pet one of the dogs. “I was hoping to find some game, so I don’t have to keep buying meat from the shops in town.” 

“You can hunt here?”

“No one has said that I  _ couldn’t _ .”

“So you…” Hal shut his eyes and took another breath. “Took a walk?”

“ _ Yes, _ I took a walk.” Dave said firmly, then his tone softened. “You should join me next time, it’s beautiful out here.“ He stood up, not noticing how tense his friend was.

  
  


“I’m only asking because you scared me,” Hal said tightly. “You couldn’t have left a note? For all I know, someone could have taken you, or snuck in and shot you with a tranquilizer and dragged you out! Not that you wouldn’t put up a fight or anything, but-” He glanced at the huskies. “The dogs didn’t seem to know where you were, either, and-”

“-Hey.” 

Hal’s words died in his throat.

Dave stepped over the dogs that were sprawled out on the floor until he was standing close. “Stop rambling. You always do that when you’re nervous.”

”I do?” Hal locked eyes with him.

“You do.” Dave grabbed his shoulder. “Everything’s okay, alright? No need to worry.” 

“R-Right.” Hal nodded, focusing on how Dave’s hand was warm despite him just having been outside. 

“Do you always think of the worst-case scenarios?” Dave gave his shoulder a squeeze and walked past him towards the kitchen.

Hal followed him. “I haven’t had a very lucky life.”

“...I see.” was his response. “I’ll leave a note next time. How about that?” 

“Please.” Hal replied.

“Got it. You want some coffee?” Dave asked, opening a cabinet.

“That sounds great.” Hal let out a sigh of relief at the topic change.

Dave pulled out the tin of coffee grounds. “Or vodka?” He glanced at Hal, who blinked in confusion.

“It’s...it’s eight in the morning.“ Hal replied.

“So?” Dave reached further into the cabinet for the liquor. 

  
  
  
  


~ 

Later in the evening, Dave asked Hal if he was hungry. Hal’s stomach rumbled almost on cue. 

Dave took that as a yes. Then he insisted he make dinner for  _ both _ of them. Chicken and potatoes, cheapest food at the market; and always readily available. 

Hal sat at the dining table as Dave cooked the dead bird. He watched Dave move around the kitchen as if he had done this millions of times. Hal supposes he had. Dave cut and cooked potatoes like he did everything else. With concentration and precision. 

  
  


Thirty minutes later a plate of food was set in front of Hal. It smelled delicious. Better yet, Dave looked pleased with himself at the outcome. 

  
  
  
  


“Hey.” Hal swallowed what was left in his mouth. “Can I ask you something?” 

Dave was feeding one of the dogs a piece of his dinner. “Yeah.”

“I understand if it’s a sensitive topic, so you don’t have to answer. You don’t  _ owe _ me an answer or anything. I just wanted to ask what your last name was. Did they ever give you one?” 

Dave thought for a moment. “I didn’t even know my...” he hesitated. “I didn’t know my father’s last name.”

“Oh,” Hal went wide-eyed. 

“Not that he was very much of a father figure. He was more of a mentor to me. As head of Foxhound, he trained me, taught me how to kill, taught me a style of fighting I don’t think I’ll ever use again.” He poked at his meal. 

Hal titled his head. “What do you mean?” 

Dave put down his fork. “Ever heard of CQC?” 

“No.” 

“It stands for close-quarters combat.  It allows you to be able  to alternate between hand-to-hand combat while  _ still  _ being armed when fighting against an enemy. It also involves throwing, striking, chokeholds.” Dave bent an elbow to imitate a chokehold. “Stuff like that.” 

Hal nodded. “So you won’t be using it anytime soon? Why?”

“Big boss developed CQC,” Dave explained. “Then he taught it to me when I was in Foxhound. After he betrayed my unit, I refused to use it.”

Hal paused. “....Wait. So Big Boss is your father?”

Dave tilted his head. “I thought I mentioned that?”

“No!” Hal leaned forward in his seat. 

“The guy’s a real bastard, but I was created from him. From the rib of man, if you want to put it like that.” Dave went back to his food.

“I may not know much about the Bible…” Hal watched as Dave quietly took a bite of his meal, “But have you ever considered they named you David because of David and Goliath?” 

Dave had a mouthful of chicken. “Why would they do that?”

“You’re David, obviously. Maybe Goliath is Metal Gear?” Hal shrugged. 

He swallowed. “I wasn’t born to fight Metal Gears.”

“No….” Hal thought for a moment, “But maybe you were born to fight something bigger than yourself.”

Dave scoffed. “Like what?”

“I’m not entirely sure.” Hal pushed up his glasses.

“Huh,” Dave responded. “Maybe I’ll find out someday,” Dave responded. 

“Yeah, maybe…” 

Silence fell upon them. “I think I’ve talked too much,” Dave muttered. 

Hal shook his head. “No, you haven’t. Plus, I don’t mind.” he sat up, “You’ve lived a far more interesting life than me. My life just sounds like some sort of soap opera. I’d much rather hear about you.” 

“I guess I didn’t answer your question about my last name.” Dave scratched the side of his head.

“I wasn’t expecting anything, really. I mean, you barely use Dave as it is.” Hal took a piece of chicken off the bone.

“Yeah, and you’re the only one so far who gets to call me that.”

“What?” Hal absently held out the piece to one of the dogs. “I’m the only one who calls you Dave?”

“I haven’t told many people. I’ve also not gotten close enough to most people to feel comfortable with them calling me by my birth name.” Dave didn’t meet his eyes. “Maybe except for Fox.” 

Hal looked at Dave. “He seems special to you,” He said. 

“He was.” Dave returned his stare, “After 6 years of torture, he  _ finally  _ got some peace, even if it was in the form of death.” 

Hal grew quiet. Dave tried to lighten the mood. “I had a feeling about you, though. A good one.” 

Hal wanted to say something self-deprecating. Some jab at himself about the pissing or the fact he asked Dave if he was an otaku 5 seconds after meeting him. Dave seemed genuine though. Hal didn’t want to ruin that. 

He settled on saying “Thanks, Dave.”

Dave blinked. “For what?” 

“Taking me in, accepting my presence, and feeling comfortable enough to share bits of yourself with me. ” Hal smiled a little.

“...it’s not a big deal.” Dave brushed him off.

“Well, It’s one to me,” Hal said, and nothing more. 

**Author's Note:**

> A special thanks to Reivalk, a wonderful author (and an even better friend) for beta reading, editing, and overall helping out with the finale touches/details of this fic. if you haven't heard of her or her work before (which I doubt) you should go check her fics out! 
> 
> And a special thanks to you, the reader. Authors are dead without an audience to read, comment, and leave kudos on their stories. So thank you for reading!
> 
> And I can’t forget about [Reivalk here on ao3](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Reivalk/pseuds/Reivalk)


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